DOVER — Two unidentified promgoers seem to have run out of steam in this photo from the Dover High School prom in 1969.

Claire Suddath wrote in Time magazine on May 17, 2010, that proms have their roots in co-ed banquets held by American colleges and universities in the late-19th century. By the 1940s, high school graduation dances had become common and, by the 1950s, the booming post-war economy allowed the gatherings to move from gymnasiums to banquet halls and become more ornate in attire and decoration.

In 1975, President Gerald Ford’s daughter, Susan, attended her high school prom at an enviable location: the White House.

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